Can anyone name a good, quality movie (not rated R or X) that we could learn a funny writing technique from? For instance, here is my first one: What about Bob?

For any of you who haven't seen this AMAZING movie (I certainly recommend you do whatever it takes to see it), What about Bob? is about a long time psychiatric patient (Bob) who goes to see a new psychiatrist (Leo) who thinks he can cure him but is just heading out on a family vacation. Bob then follows Leo and his family and soon Bob is even more welcome on the vacation than Leo because Leo is literally going insane trying to get Bob to leave, but Bob is welcomed by Leo's family and has a ton of fun. The movie is full of Bob's stupid humor like how he brought his pet goldfish with him in a water bottle and he talks to it often. I won't tell you the end, but I will tell you that it employs large amounts of irony. I recommend this movie to anyone except people who violently seize when they laugh, for watching this movie could result in law suits.

What about Bob? is a fantabulous movie! It leaves me in stitches. When eating corn on the cob, I still have to remark, “Is this hand-shucked?”

I watch all movies with tv guardian, but I know there’s a part where Bob pretends to have Tourette’s Syndrome. This obviously has language; I imagine you use tvg as well.

One of my favorites is The Princess Bride.

I also like A Christmas Story with the boy who wants the Red Rider BB gun. The narrator’s lines are some of the best! “Randy lay there like a slug; it was his only defense.”

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels has some sexual innuendo which I zip through, but I literally cry with laughter when Steve Martin plays “Ruprecht.” Pure Luck with Martin Short is good. (I’m trying to remember if I zip past any risqué scenes… don’t know, sorry.)

Do you find it difficult to revert from onscreen physical comedy to written physical comedy?

Actually I don't have this "tv gaurdian" thing, but it sounds like I could really use it is it kinda like having "clear play" on a dvd player?

The Princess Brideis OF COURSE a classic, I mean can you get a more romantic guy than Wesley, and I still can't help but start saying "Hello, my name in Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die." over and over and over again any time I hear someone with a Spanish accent get angry. lol.

A Christmas Storyactually isn't one of my favorites simply because my family never really watched it and by the time I saw it for the first time I'd already outgrown a ton of it. Besides, I never did get that whole, "but I actually didn't say that word, I said a different one." thing where the kid curses, but they avoid actually using the word, my idea is "If it makes you think a curse word, or worse think through a list of curse words, in your head, then it pretty much defeated the purpose. But I do like how you talked about the narrator's lines, that's the actual point of the topic, to discuss what we, as writer can learn from movies.

As far as the others, I've never seen them, but I agree with you that Steven Martin is funny(he perfected the Pink Panther!).

And yeah, I have found physical comedy hard to write, some things just have to be seen. But if you have any tips, maybe if we put our heads together, we can come up with a way to do it!

And just so you know, I decided to look it up on wikipedia and it was already in the memory so apparently my brother already knows what it is. ... But then again I've also found "Captain Canuck" in the memory.

Oh! Now that I look at the webpage more clearly I see what you mean! Okay, so it's a parody of 50's sci fi movies? So it (like many sucessfully hilarious shows and movies) was designed to be campy! Okay, sorry, I saw the picture from the DVD and thought that it actually was an older movie! Sorry!

So here is my thing so I don't break the chain.

So I think that I will name the movie whose inspiration gave me my pen name, Howl's Moving Castle! It's a truly AWESOME movie by Myazaki (but it's WAY different that the book!) and I'd have to say that's it's greatest form of humor is the immense amount of sarcasm in it (It has Billy Crystal in it, so of course there is a lot of sarcasm.).

The plot follows a girl named Sophie Hatter who is cursed by a witch and turned into an old woman, she then tries to catch up with the witch and get her to change her back. But in the process she becomes friends with the witch's worst enemy, The Wizard Howl. She ends up staying in Howl's Moving Castle(in case you didn't catch the name) with the arrogant Howl, his assistant, Markl, and their living fire, Calcifer (BILLY CRYSTAL).

(Howl had two alias in the book, and I guess kinda in the movie, one being the Wizard Pendragon (who I stole this pen name from) and the Wizard Jenkins (http://www.fanfiction.net/~wizardjenkins) which is my fanfiction account, but I have nothing on it ... yet.)

Howl's Moving Castle is so good!! I want to read the book and haven't yet. I agree it has funny situations and lines. My favorite thing about it is the castle. That is so imaginative and creative. Oh, and it's romantic; that never hurts.

My contribution is: Mr. Bean's Holiday. It is funny in a slapstick, physical comedy way. I think my favorite part would be his operatic lip-syncing. I'd give the plot, but Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) really doesn't need a plot to be hilarious.

I love 'A Christmas Story'. But since it has already been discussed. I shall move on. I'm trying to think of a funny movie that you've probably seen. Knowing you to be a vegitales kinda person. This is harder than I thought. Have you heard of 'The Emperor's New Groove'? I know it's a Disney movie, but I still think it's pretty funny.

I've seen it and I thought it was pretty cool (the resulting show wasn't, but "Kronk's New Groove" didn't suck as much). So do you want to talk about why it is funny now, or would you prefer me to? I wouldn't really mind either way.

And you've seen Veggietales stuff?! Or were you just making an observation from reading my quotes, like "She must be obsessed with 'The Weekenders'" and you don't know what "The Weekenders" is?

Oh, I have to agree with you on why that's funny! Kronk's not knowing that no one cares about his spinach puffs is one of the key jokes. But also there is that thing with the angel and the devil on his shoulders and how only he can see them but he just rambles on and on to them, it's hilarious! But yeah, the reasons as to why it's funny are kinda similar to "An Experiment in Character Driven Plot" by R.E.D. the animator which I talked about in my so far one man show in the newest topic.

Now as to my submission, I'm gonna do Enchanted. Enchanted basically about a girl from a fairy tale who ends up real life. And she believes that if you are who you are, things will work out. ... But as to why it's funny ... it's Disney making fun of Disney. They specifically made it the characters from the fairy tale very cheesy, so that when they met the "real life" characters they sort of crashed and burned. I have got to recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't seen it, it can make anyone laugh (even my brother who barely ever laughs).

I was going to post something in that topic, but I wanted to go over all the funny stories I knew first(I would nominate Of Wizards and Giant Butterflies, but I helped write it so I can't :( ).

I loved Enchanted. I agree with you on why it's funny. Edward is especially cheesy, cuz he has no 'normal' friend to guide him through the real world.

Something I've noticed is that the characters are a huge contributor to the humor. The characters themselves don't have to be funny(though it's probably a good idea to have one that is), it's how they react to other characters and situations. They don't have to be deep developed characters, they just need a personality.

Yeah, that's a really good point (the point about Edward not being normal because of his friends) that I hadn't noticed before you pointed it out ... like forever ago, sorry it took me so long to reply!

So my contribution, (that I hope at least some of you have seen) is Spaceballs. Yeah, I haven't seen this one in a while, but I do remember it being really funny. It's defiantly funny because of all its parodies (not just of Star Wars, but of TONS of other movies!), but if you want to learn anything about how to write a good parody, this is totally a good example for you to watch and learn from!

Wow, you can quote that all from memory, that's ... that's actually something I would normally do! WHOA!

So I was thinking, what movie is actually pretty similar to Spaceballs, except for being totally different, is Madagascar! I mean, think about it. It has tons of parody-type quotes that make fun of the movie they come from, and that's what makes it funny!

"Darn you, darn you all to heck!"

That scene had to be my favorite in the entire movie, bacause I totally didn't see it coming, but it was there and it wasn't stressed at all!

Enchanted was at the most, amusing. Spaceballs, Christmas Story, Madagascar, and Princess Bride are all great movies, but what about Time Bandits, or Young Frankenstien, Blazing Saddles, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, The Truman Show, Galaxy Quest?Anyone ever watch those? They are all really good, oh! Let's not forget Nacho Libre!

I have to say that I've only ever seen Young Frankenstein and Galaxy Quest, they were both great, but would you mind explaining why they or any other ones on the list are funny? Either way, you rock for talking on this and coming up on that big list, I know my mind always goes blank when I try to think of funny movies!

All I do is watch movies and write. I think that Galaxy Quest is funny mainly because it is a big spoof of Startreck, and that's really all it needs. The characters really add to the movie, like Tony Shaloub as Tech Sgt. Chen.

Yeah, I can agree with you on that, its defiantly a great parody ... which Young Frankenstein is too! I guess for two movies separated by so much in genre and production date, there really isn't too much of a difference (But then again, maybe their genres aren't that different?).

Yeah, I gotta agree! Kung Fu Hustle is funny like Hell! The next funny movie is CJ7; seriously, CJ7 is soooo cute and that show is so hilarious! I can't stop laughing! Then there's Kung Fu Panda; although it's not considered as a "real movie" coz it's an animation, it's really funny. The starting of the movie is especially crazy -- when I remember about it I can't help smiling.

Next, it's got to be "The Hitch-Hiker's Guid to the Galaxy/Universe". LOL, when the world is destroyed those people hid themselves in paper bags -- how hilarious is that? XD

Mean Girls is quite funny, too. And then there's Devil Boy:The Golden Army. It's packed with action but it certainly is super funny! That grandma eats cats!! After that there's The Pink Panther, Night at the Museum (my personal favourite, I love those Cowboys and Romans XD), John Tucker Must Die, and a whole lot more. It's really nice to watch them, because they make you crack a lot. I love movies!

I'd say that the kind of comedy films you should watch are ones that reflect your own sense of humour, or at least the sense of humour/type of comedy that you want to reflect in your own writing. My sense of humour has changed a lot over the years, but a few films I can recommend off the top of my head are A Night At The Opera (and any other Marx Brothers film that tickles your fancy, really), the original film of Bedazzled, Annie Hall and Some Like It Hot.

For something more modern that isn't completely a comedy, Up is brilliant for those little flashes of comedy in with the beautiful imagery and great characters. In fact, Pixar films in general are awesome for that.

I know they are books, but the Artemis Fowl series (pretty much all of Eoin Colfer's books) and The PJO series and the Heroes of Olympus crack me up. Invader Zim (although a TV show) and Tangled (yay! a movie!). I ADORE The Princess Bride. Funny story, actually. My aunt and uncle do too, so they had the preacher recreate the marriage scene when they were married. XD